Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 19th February, 2016. These are important for the upcoming Bank and Insurance Exams.

Current Affairs at a Glance - 19th February, 2016

The government has appointed West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra as
the chairman of the goods and services (GST) panel, a move that came three
months after the previous head, former Kerala finance minister K MMani, resigned in November 2015. The move comes just ahead of the
Budget session, which starts from Tuesday.

City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO)
inked 11 MoUs worth Rs 30,000 crore for the development of Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area
(NAINA) projects, including Khalapur
Smart City, during the just concluded Make In India Week.

Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation
(HSIIDC) has signed an MoU with Jaina
Mobiles Industries for setting up of an Electronics Cluster in Industrial Model Township (IMT) Sohna,
district Mewat, Haryana.

Indian Navy and Myanmar Navy on
16 February 2016 signed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for India-Myanmar
Coordinated Patrol (IMCOR) at the Tri-Service Headquarters in Port Blair,
Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

With the President's rule having
been lifted in Arunachal Pradesh, dissident Congress leader Kalikho Pul is set
to be sworn in as the state's new Chief Minister tonight.

Kajol appointed as part-time member of the Prasar Bharati Board till
November 2021, sources said.

The AP Government has appointed K Narasimha Murthy as Advisor (Financial Services) in the rank of Special Chief Secretary.

Polish film director Andrzej Zulawski passed away on 17 February
2016 in Warsaw, Poland after a long struggle with cancer. He was 75. Zulawski
was known for an idiosyncratic approach to storytelling and blending
surrealism, horror and psychic excess in the emotionally savage films like That
Most Important Thing: Love, Possession and My Nights Are More Beautiful Than
Your Days.

Finance/Industry/Economy –

Amit Mitra Named Chairman of GST Committee of State FMs

The government has appointed West
Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra as the chairman of the goods and services
(GST) panel, a move that came three months after the previous head, former
Kerala finance minister K M Mani, resigned in November 2015. The move comes
just ahead of the Budget session, which starts from Tuesday.

Confirming the development,
minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha expressed hope that the Constitution
amendment Bill on GST would be passed by Parliament in the Budget session.

With this, the tradition to have
the finance minister of an opposition-ruled state to be the head of the
empowered committee of state finance ministers has been maintained.

The committee is to deliberate on
the GST exemption thresholds and GST Bill.

States are divided on the limits,
with most including Karnataka seeking a lower exemption limit of Rs 10 lakh
annual turnover.

The empowered committee also has
to discuss the GST law and business processes for payments, refunds and return
filing.

CIDCO inks MoUs worth Rs 30,000 crore during Make in India Week

City and Industrial Development
Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) inked 11 MoUs worth Rs 30,000 crore for the
development of Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA) projects,
including Khalapur Smart City, during the just concluded Make In India Week.

Addressing a press conference at
CIDCO headquarters in Navi Mumbai yesterday, its MD and vice-chairman Sanjay
Bhatia said 11 MoUs have been signed during the week, which concluded
yesterday, for the development of NAINA pilot project in Navi Mumbai, which
also includes integrated township Khalapur Smart City.

The MoUs were signed in the
presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Bhatia said, adding
the minister on the occasion congratulated Khalapur, Kalote Mokashi and Nadode
gram panchayats, representing 11 villages, under the project.

CIDCO also inked an MoU with
Transparency International India to combat corruption and for effective
governance.

Bhatia said CIDCO has taken the
initiative to work with Transparency International India to maintain transparency
in governance under which CIDCO employees, suppliers and vendors will be given
specialised trainings.

Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure
Development Corporation (HSIIDC) has signed an MoU with Jaina Mobiles
Industries for setting up of an Electronics Cluster in Industrial Model
Township (IMT) Sohna, district Mewat, Haryana.

Thermal sets of 270 MW rating are
in-house improvisations of the 210/250 MW sets supplied by the company earlier,
which currently form the backbone of the Indian power sector and have been
performing much above the national average as well as international benchmarks.

All the operational sets of
210-270 MW class in Punjab have been supplied, erected and commissioned by
BHEL, i.e., six units of 210 MW at Ropar, 2 units of 210 MW and 2 units of 250
MW at Bhatinda, besides 270 MW Unit at Goindwal Sahib.

India –

Union Government nod for building of 82000 houses for poor in urban
areas of 163 cities

The Union Ministry of Housing and
Urban Poverty Alleviation on 18 February 2016 sanctioned construction of around
eighty two thousand houses for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in urban
areas of 163 cities.

The cities are in West Bengal,
Telangana, Bihar, Mizoram, Rajashtan, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand. State wise
number of houses sanctioned

West Bengal - 27830 houses

Telangana – 22817

Bihar – 13315

Mizoram – 8922

Rajasthan – 6052

Jharkhand—2337

Uttarakhand - 484

According to the Ministry, the
construction will involve an investment of over four thousand crore rupees, of
which, the Union Government will provide an assistance of 1226 crore rupees.
These 1226 crore rupees will be provided under the Prime Minister's Awas Yojana
(Urban).

Indian Navy and Myanmar Navy on
16 February 2016 signed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for India-Myanmar
Coordinated Patrol (IMCOR) at the Tri-Service Headquarters in Port Blair,
Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

With this signing of SOP, Myanmar
became the third country with which India has signed a formal agreement for
maritime coordinated patrols.

The signing of SOP reflects
growing naval interaction between India and Myanmar. It will facilitate smooth
conduct of coordinated patrols between two neighbours that share a long
maritime boundary in the strategically significant Andaman Sea and Bay of
Bengal.

Appointments –

Kalikho Pul to be sworn in as Arunachal Pradesh CM today

With the President's rule having
been lifted in Arunachal Pradesh, dissident Congress leader Kalikho Pul is set
to be sworn in as the state's new Chief Minister tonight.

The swearing in ceremony is set
to take place at the Raj Bhavan at 9 pm tonight in Itanagar.

The Union cabinet had on
Wednesday decided to recommend revocation of President's rule in the state but
within hours the Supreme Court ordered that status quo be maintained till it
examined records on the disqualification of the 14 rebel MLAs.

The revolt by Congress rebels led
to a political crisis in the state that finally led to imposition of
President's Rule on January 26.

Kajol appointed as part-time member of the Prasar Bharati Board

The actress, known for starring
in hit films like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Baazigar, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
etc, will serve as a part-time member on the Board till November 2021, sources
said.

Among the key matters that would
be taken up at the meeting is the appointment of the DGs of Doordarshan and All
India Radio (AIR) which have been functioning under interim heads for close to
a year.

Recently, the interim chief of
Doordarshan, C Lalrosanga, had also put in his papers citing personal reasons.

Apart from Kajol, the Information
and Broadcasting Ministry has also appointed Shashi Shekhar Vempati, who heads
an online media company, to the Board.

AP govt appoints Narasimha Murthy as Advisor (Financial Services)

The AP Government has appointed K
Narasimha Murthy as Advisor (Financial Services) in the rank of Special Chief
Secretary.

A chartered accountant and member
on board of financial institutions, the 58-year-old, Narasimha Murthy has
already been working as Chairman of Financial Ponzy Schemes and Member of
Fiscal Management Committee of the State.

He is associated with the
development of Cost & Management Information Systems for more than 175
companies covering more than 50 Industries, a press release stated.

He will focus on expanding the
reach of Infosys consultants and experts in digital transformation and
design-led innovation, as well as increasing Infosys' expertise in large-scale
SAP programmes, the company said in a statement.

He will also serve as the
regional head for the DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) countries,
bringing an integrated approach to IT transformation to every client engagement
in the region.

Infosys said Pesch brings with
him more than two decades of experience in global consulting and management
roles and till very recently served as CEO of arvato Systems Group.

Awards & Honors –

Eastern Command received Raksha Mantri’s Trophy for Best Service
Hospital

The Command Hospital (Eastern
Command), Kolkata, on 18 February 2016 was awarded with the Best Service
Hospital. The Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar presented the trophy and
citation to the hospital’s Commandant Major General TS Ahluwalia in the Armed
Forces Medical Services (AFMS) in Kolkata.

The trophy for the Second Best
Hospital was presented to INHS Asvini, Mumbai, which was received by its
Commandant Surgeon Rear Admiral AA Pawar.

Obituaries –

Former West Indies cricketer Andy Ganteaume died

Andy Ganteaume, the former West
Indies and Trinidad & Tobago wicketkeeper-batsman, passed away on 17
February 2016 in Santa Margarita, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. He was
95.

Ganteaume was West Indies' oldest
living Test cricketer, and the world's second oldest, after South Africa's
Lindsay Tuckett.

He scored 112 in his only Test
innings, which left him with highest Test batting average in history.

Polish film director Andrzej Zulawski passed away

Polish film director Andrzej
Zulawski passed away on 17 February 2016 in Warsaw, Poland after a long
struggle with cancer. He was 75.

Zulawski was known for an
idiosyncratic approach to storytelling and blending surrealism, horror and
psychic excess in the emotionally savage films like That Most Important Thing:
Love, Possession and My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days.

Zulawski went
to France when his second feature The Devil was banned in Poland. After the
success of That Most Important Thing: Love in 1975, he returned to Poland where
he spent two years making On the Silver Globe.